Improved fire-shield



PATENTED 11150.15, 1868.

J. 0. CLARK.

FIRE SHIELD,

l A-NR I groove, preventing the rack from coming down, unless finder eeere gran fine.

JOHN c. CLARK, or- LA GRANGE-MICHIGAN. Letters Patent No.'84,859, dated December 15, 1868.

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The Schedule referred to in these. Letters Patent and making m or the some.

To whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatI, JOHN G. CLARK, of La Grange, in the county of Class, and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in'Portable Fire- Shields; and I do declare that the following is a true and accurate ,description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, and being a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an-elevation of my invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the sections of columns and rack, showing the method of attaching the metallic shieldthe'reto; and

Figure 3 is a vertical section of a sectional column and rack.

Similar letters indicate like parts in each figure.

The object of this invention is to construct an apparatus to be used as a screen or shield between two buildings, when one of them is burning, which is light, capable of being compactly folded up for transportation, easy of erection, and when erected in front of a burning building, willprevent the flames fiom spreading to the adjoining one, and afi'ording, at the same time, a shelter for firemen, who may approach vmuch nearer, and play .upon the same with great effect.

To accomplish this purpose, I construct three 061- umns, A, mounted upon proper supports, of the form shown in fig. 1 of the drawings, each column being provided with a dovetail groove, B, figr2, in which slides a rack, 0, each rack being provided with a spring, D, fig. 3, which engages with an ofiset in the side of the the spring is released from the in by the pin E, fig. 3.

The top of each section of rack is grooved to receive the hook F of the metallic screen G. These hooks are so shaped as to allow the screen to be hung on the front side of the columns, next to the burning'building.

H are pinions, journalled into'the lower corners of the columns, and whose teeth engage with those of the racks O, which are raised or lowered by the cranks I. Sections. of columns, J, provided, at their lowerends, with collars, K, are mounted upon and secured in position on the tops of the columns A. These sections are grooved in the same manner as the columns A.

L are poles, provided with a hook at their upper ends, which engage with the staples M, on the sections of columns, by means of which the latter are raised and placed in position. They are also braced one to another by hook-braces N.

ofiset, by being pressed The shields, G, are provided with doors or loop-holes, 0, through which the firemen may pass their hosepipes, and play upon the burning building.

I design to make the shields of sheet-iron, twenty feet long and *our feet wide, with the sectional columns and racks 'four feet high, but do not confine myself to these dimensions, but intend tovary them as may be necessary. The apparatus, being constructed almost entirely of metal, will not be affected by any heat to which. it may be subjected. To explain the method of operating the same, we

will suppose that the vehicle carrying the apparatushas arrived at the fire. The firemen carry the three columns A between the building on fire and the adjoining one, and place them in position, twenty feet apart. They next hang on to the tops of the racks, in the columns, two of the shields G, by means of their hooks F. They next place a section, J, in position, on top of each column, hooking them together when in position'. Then, by turning the cranks 'I, the screens are raised the height of the section of the rack, by means of the pinions H. Another section of rack is then en tered into the bottom ofthe groove in each column'A, and their shields hung on, as before, when the whole section is again moved up by the cranksandpinions, the lower'sections of racks pushingup those above them, and all retained in position by their springs, D, entering the ofisets in the grooves. This process is continued until the proper height is attained, when the firemen are sheltered from the heat, and at the-same time are enabled to .play upon the flames through the doors 0.

By the use of anumber of sets of this apparatus, a building maybe entirely surrounded,.if necessary, to prevent the spreading of the flames.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isj A portable fire-shield, composed of columns A, pinions H, cranks I, sectional columns J, with their grooves B, pins E, collars K, hooks M, and hook-braces N, the racks 0, provided with springs D, the shields G, with their hooks F and doors 0, and the hooked pols L, when arranged relatively to each other, and operating substantially as herein described, and for the purposes JOHN C. CLARK.

set forth.

Witnesses:

L. 1). SMITH, Bnmu: Mann. 

